How to start your own vineyard: It's a lot of digging!

Starting a vineyard involves a lot of repetitive digging, most of which can be done by machine if you plan correctly.  We did not.  The story goes like this:

In the fall of 2002 before the spring planting of our vines, we were reading our bible, From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine, and were brainwashed into believing that we simply must dig trenches with a backhoe in which to plant our vines. As mentioned in my last post, it is helpful to be well-connected to those with the means to own heavy machinery.  We just happened to have well-to-do friends that had a recreational backhoe.  I'm serious, here's a picture at the vineyard site:

How did we get it from our friend's spread to the vineyard?  Well it came with it's own trailer of course! So we get this thing to the vineyard to dig the trenches.  We were planting five rows of vines, ten vines in each row, six feet apart.  Carry the one...that's five sixty-foot rows to dig.  A fairly easy matter with the backhoe on a brisk late fall day!  It was fun. 

In the meanwhile, we were having the soil tested to see if it needed amending to provide proper nutrients to our baby vines.  We blithely reasoned that we would dig the trenches and leave them open until we got the results back from the soil lab, add the amendments, and fill in the holes. 

WE HAD TO FILL IN FIVE SIXTY-FOOT TRENCHES WITH A SHOVEL! 

If I ever inadvertently cross the North Korean border, I'll skip through the gulag system!
Just remember, don't return the backhoe until you've filled in the trenches.